|
|
Genre: Adventure Developer & Publisher: Wadget Eye Games Released: April 23, 2025 Requirements: OS: Windows 7, 8, 10; XP SP2 Processor: 2.7 Ghtz dual core or above; can run on single core Memory: 2 GB Ram Graphics: Direct3D, Open GL, DirectX 5 Storage: 4 GB available space
|
|
|
By flotsam Wadjet Eye Games As the Steam page says, time travel is real and history is up for grabs. You play Fia Quinn, whom we have met before but not yet (relatively speaking). Which is a round about way of saying that timey-wimey time travel stuff is a whole heap of fun. Like I said, you play Fia Quinn, a time agent for ChronoZen, the organisation charged with making sure the time stream stays relatively ordered. Or at least as ordered it as it can be when people can pay to hop back in time to e.g., have a last supper at a favourite burger joint. Which is how we meet Fia, escorting a client to 2024 for that very purpose. But when the client goes rogue, time threatens to do what time does when stuff that like that happens, which means Fia has to sort it out. Other clients are more upfront
with their ambitions, usually involving changing something rather than
to make things different now. Which apparently is ok, generally. The
game does an excellent job of explaining and applying the ‘rules’ of
time travel to your endeavours. Fia herself is chronolocked, which means
changes in time ripple around her, but Fia remains as is. Navigating
those ripples is part of the story, as is the fact that certain people
are off limits when it comes to making changes. You can discover all the
details for yourself (and I liked that they unfolded across the game
rather than coming in a single dump of exposition), but suffice to say
that time is a relative construct, except when it isn’t. Game-play is very much point-and-click, and you can save at will. The inventory ribbon appears top of screen in response to the mouse, where you have access to your items as well as a digital archive with search terms that increase as you uncover information. Examining items can be important as the time ripples – documents in particular might change – and searching in the archive when you get a new lead (you will know when) can pay dividends. You also have access to a field manual full of all sorts of interesting field agent information, and a 'phone' to contact Nozzo back in your original timeline. He monitors and assists your activities in the past, and can provide insights or suggestions should you be stuck. He also has the very important task of activating your Paradox Field Excluder, which means rewinding time when Fia dies. Which she will. Quite a bit. Much of it is inevitable. The narrative will make it happen. How much more death will occur will depend on how many tries it takes you to stop it from happening. I did get sick of these death loops. There was one that had an answer discernible within the game (perhaps there are more and I missed the solution) but by and large its trial and error - die, try something else, die, try something different, die etc. Sometimes there is more than one person to save, requiring a more convoluted solution (I enjoyed these more as they added an additional dimension) but before the end of the game I confess I was using a walkthrough to get me through these sequences. Other puzzling involves finding and using items, applying information you have uncovered to piece together a code or password, and triggering the way forward by asking the right person the right question. Whilst I was clueless at times, I had fun with them all, preferring the middle sort and putting the latter at the bottom. In that regard, you will need to chat incessantly, particular responses being essential to triggering a way forward. The game is well voiced, and the sound palette is appropriately good. Game screens are generally what you see in front of you (i.e., they don’t slide or scroll) and you can highlight hotspots to aid your searching. Exit points will take you to a scrolling streetscape, where available locations are represented by icons top of screen. Just click one and that's where you will be. But don’t be too hasty. The chat that might take place as you stroll along can be illuminating, if only in terms of background or detail. The roll-over aspect to looking at things warrants mentioning. Instead of clicking to look at something, moving the cursor there will generate a little pop-up description of whatever it is you are looking at. I liked it a lot. Other icons will indicate you might be able to do something different at a hotspot. The game plays in Chapters, each based on a different client, but it is way more convoluted than that. Such is the nature of the timestream. The Chapters are also different in nature, so you don’t feel you are just doing the same thing with someone else. My favourite was the one where you had to stop multiple versions of Fia encountering themselves, and I also enjoyed those where you had to jump back and forth in time to learn things in the past/future that you used in the future/past. And I particularly enjoyed how it played out. Despite my feelings on the death loops, I had a very good time being Fia. It’s an elaborate piece of storytelling, and while my playthrough was impacted by my use of a walkthrough, I reckon there is 10-15 hours of game play awaiting you, and possibly more. I look forward to their next game. I played on: OS: Windows 11, 64 Bit Processor: Intel i7-9700K 3.7GHz RAM: Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4 32GB Video card: AMD Radeon RX 580 8192MB
|
